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Aztec clay stamp in Exeter

Study it online or see it for real in the World Cultures Gallery of The Royal Albert Memorial Museum...

Clay stamps

The Mexica (Aztecs) generally only used clay moulds when making ‘cheap-and-cheerful’ figurines for what we would call the ‘mass market’: small, unpainted knicknacks shaped like temples, gods and human beings that even the poorest could afford to have in their homes. (Written/compiled by Ian Mursell/Mexicolore)

This clay stamp mould in the National Museum of Anthropology, Mexico City is 17 cms long. (Click on image to enlarge)

’More lively are the designs on the terracotta stamps used to print patterns on something (perhaps cloth or the human body) which has not been preserved in the archaeological record. There are geometric and abstract motives, monkeys and eagles, stylized versions of Quetzalcoatl, the Plumed Serpent, and of other strange figures who may be gods or heroes’ (Warwick Bray). These would have been hand made, in a tradition going back some two millennia (2,000 years) before the Aztecs.

Examples of Aztec clay stamps in Mexico City’s National Museum of Anthropology; can you spot the little monkey! (Click on image to enlarge)

Evidence from finds at Tlatilco, a large pre-Hispanic village in the Valley of Mexico, shows that even the earliest (roller-shaped) baked clay stamps (occasional stone, copper and bone ones have been found) were used by common folk as well as the better-off, to apply ink or paint to clothing, paper, or to the body. Roller-shaped stamps - that sometimes had two ingenious parallel lines running lengthwise to act as margin guides for printing onto sashes and belts!) - gave way to simpler, flatter models hundreds of years before the Aztecs came on the scene. Printing with stamps was - among ancient Mexicans - and remains today - all over the world - very much a folk art. It must have been common for people to decorate their cheeks, arms and legs during major festivals, a bit like the modern-day fad for face-painting and the use of stick-on temporary tattoos at big events.

A modern inking stamp with a pre-Hispanic look and feel to it... (Click on image to enlarge)

Museums contain some examples of rounded stamps, ideal for printing onto human limbs. The stamping process was also used for decorating pottery pieces, being applied to the surface of the vessel when the clay was still pliable.Colour dyes were made from charcoal and pine (for black), chalk (white!), cinnabar (bright scarlet mercury ore), cochineal, indigo and other materials.Popular designs - which tended to be strongly stylized - included geometric patterns, interlaced flowers, animals, serpents, eagle heads, and (one often reproduced in books of ancient Mexican motifs today) ‘monkeys dancing in pairs to some irresistible rhythm’...

The classic work of Jorge Enciso who died in 1969 remains the best source on pre-Hispanic stamp designs: (L) Dover Publications edition (1953) based on the author’s own original edition (1947) (Click on image to enlarge)

For decades we have been recommending as the best source book on ancient Mexican (stamp) designs, the books by Jorge Enciso, widely available thanks to the Dover Publications edition (look how well thumbed our copy is in the photo!) In Enciso’s own words ‘their variety and ingenuity interested me intensely’. He collected, studied - and traced! - hundreds of original stamps, in museums and private collections. The smallest he found measured just one square centimetre; the largest (from Tlatilco) was 23 cms in length.

(Click on image to enlarge)

NOTE ON TATTOOS:-We consulted a world expert on tattooing traditions around the world, Lars Krutak, on tattooing in ancient Mexico. He told us -There really is no firm evidence of a tattooing tradition among the Olmec, Maya or Aztec. It is speculative at best and I am more inclined that these groups either body painted or practiced scarification in antiquity. In short, they may have tattooed prisoners from the ethnic groups they conquered, but there just isn’t enough data out there. The firmest evidence we have of true tattooing in Mexico is of Uto-Aztecan peoples like the Tarahumara, Pima, and others of the Northwest who certainly tattooed – as we have learned from early missionary accounts. - learn more of Lars’ work as a tattoo anthropologist from his website, below...

NOTE 2012:-The last link below takes you to a small Polish photogallery collected by Boguchwala Tuszynska during her travels. As the text is in Polish, here is some of the introductory text in English:-During excavations all over Mesoamerica, archaeologists often find small objects with various patterns on them. They are a kind of stamps with residues of pigments, especially red, blue, yellow and black. These items are usually small in size - from a few to a dozen centimeters and have flat, cylindrical or conical shapes. Most of them were made of clay, and only a few of stone. The flat stamps have small handles that make using them easier, and the cylindrical ones have holes through which a stick can be put to facilitate applying the pattern by rolling the stamp. The most common designs include flowers, lizards, snakes, birds, butterflies and other animals, but also fantastic beasts. Sometimes these are just geometric patterns, zigzags, spirals and circles, occasionally there are also glyphs. Stamps have been found in different areas, such as Tlatilco, Teotihuacan, Colima, Chiapa de Corzo, Calakmul, in the vicinity of San Luís Potosí, on the Olmec site of San Andrés, in Veracruz and the Mexica areas, which indicates that they were quite commonly used from the pre-Classic to post-Classic period(With thanks to Agnieszka Hamann).

7 At 10.42am on Wednesday February 29 2012, sadie wrote:

you came to my school recently and showed us some stamps you were very interesting!!!

6 At 5.13pm on Sunday May 22 2011, otirudam wrote:

I loved your clay stamp article. It will be great when many of those stamp motifs are finnally deciphered. Some motifs are so special that they must have meant something very important, which can be seen repeated in so many of the cultural remnants we have to this very day. Some motifs remind me of the incredible patterns embeded in the Mitla fabulous temples. Also they somehow resemble many ancient petroglyphs inscribed in rocks and cliffs of the Americas. Thanks for sharing these fascinating subjects. Keep on sending more please.

5 At 1.17am on Saturday August 14 2010, Gerardo Jacuindes wrote:

to mexiclore. Heres my email adress: jacuindesg@yahoo.com. email me if you would like more details or pictures on the clay stamp that we have.

4 At 11.49pm on Wednesday August 11 2010, DENISE wrote:

I was hoping you could look at photos and offer your opinion about an artifact I have in my possession.Last weekend, my partner and I had a yard sale. He opened a box of items for sale, one which I spotted immediately. I took the item out of the box and said, “Um....no. We are not selling this. Tell me what you know about this piece?”My partner is from Mexico. His friend gave his the item years ago along with a story. Apparently, his wife’s grandfather unearthed the object while plowing a field in Santiago Ixcuintla. I estimate he found it at least 90-100 years ago.I believe it is a cermaic stamp carved like a sun, similar to the clay stamp mould pictured on your web site. It feels heavy like stone, perhaps fired clay.I would appreciate any insight you can offer on the age and origin of the stamp. I am very intrigued to have found such an interesting artifact, which almost made it’s way into a yard sale. (smile)

Mexicolore replies: (We’ve asked Denise to supply more details, which we hope to post in our ‘Can You Help?’ section...)

3 At 12.42am on Saturday August 7 2010, Gerardo Jacuindes wrote:

My father has what looks like a real aztec clay stamp of an aztec warrior. Email me.

2 At 3.26am on Saturday July 10 2010, J G wrote:

I have a friend that showed me a REAL Ink stamp,with a dog or a wolf’s face as a holder in the back, also has a Jade Mask About 2 1/2” by 2 1/2” , If he lets me take a picture of them I will post them.

Mexicolore replies: Cheers, JG, keep in touch and let us know how you get on - we’d love to see/share any photos you can get...

1 At 10.51pm on Tuesday May 11 2010, tecpaocelotl wrote:

Great article.

I have a reproduction stamp that looks exactly like the one you guys have as the sample.Front:http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v258/tecpaocelotl/DSC00616.jpgBack:http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v258/tecpaocelotl/DSC00618.jpg

There’s a book that looks like an updated version with the same title as the book design motifs of ancient mexico which has a cd rom with all the images in the book. It’s great for educational purposes.